Online training - don't throw your money away

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in significant changes to the way training is delivered. Some companies were forced to cut training programmes. Some felt that they had to learn certain skills to survive. Others saw an opportunity to improve their current and used the crisis to teach employees something new. The training market reacted to these needs very quickly, offering a huge range of training programmes in the only form possible during a pandemic - online. How can we avoid getting list in the multitude of available offers?

Training topics

The topic is the first and most important criterion for choosing a training programme. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, many companies have changed the way they operate. In some companies, visits to clients have been replaced by phone calls and online meetings. Most fairs, industry events and conferences were also postponed or cancelled. Many companies, for example in the agro industry, have had difficulty presenting their products - how can you show how a particular machine works over the Internet? The way we communicate with clients has changed, and companies have realised that they need to refresh their employees’ telephone sales skills. They also realised that they needed to teach their employees how to use online tools effectively, in part so that they could help their clients use those tools.

All this means the topics covered in training programmes have also changed. As the owners of a sales training company, we’ve noticed that the most popular topics are those related to the current situation, i.e. telephone sales, telephone customer service, sales training for customer service staff (since the customer service department is still in regular contact with clients, why not use the opportunity to sell additional products or services), virtual management, and virtual meetings.

Here’s the first hint - when choosing a training programme, think about what you need in your current situation. In addition, it’s also worth focusing on topics that were of interest before the pandemic. After all, the virus didn’t suddenly make all your old problems and challenges disappear. After all, as soon as the situation stabilises, you’ll have to address them.

What type of training should you choose? At the beginning, it’s worth clarifying what kinds of online training are currently on offer.